


You'll Never Win, Unless You Give In

by curiousloveable



Series: Rebel Spies [1]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: AU, F/M, First Meetings, Medical Attention, Nar Shaddaa, Romance, Set before the Movie, Star Wars - Freeform, Star Wars Universe, alternative universe, different timeline, injured Cassian, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 12:08:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8979079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curiousloveable/pseuds/curiousloveable
Summary: Jyn meets an injured stranger who turns out to be a wanted rebel with a price on his head.





	1. Stop, You're Surrounded

Funny thing is when I look into your eyes  
I sense something so sincere in your disguise  
You whisper secrets I hear only in my dreams  
Then I wake up to your tele-smoke screen  
I wait patiently while you play your game  
'Cause in the end, I'll be the winner all the same  
You'll see clearly when the song comes to a stop  
I'll be the one blowing kisses from the top 

\--------------------------------------------------

 

 

Jyn was on her way back to her apartment. It was already pretty late but the streets on Nar Shaddaa were just as alive as anytime during the day. This moon really never seemed to quiet down for a single minute. And that was just the reason why Jyn used it as a spot to hide from the Empire. It was easy to get lost in a place where basically everyone was a criminal. It was a dangerous place to be, sure. But it also had a lot of advantages. No one was asking too many questions, for example.

Jyn had a lousy paying job in a bar that was getting on her nerves every day. Maybe she would look for something else soon. But she was still wanted for thievery and other little crimes and she wanted to keep a low profile for a little longer.

Walking down the street she passed a dark alley and stopped. She was sure she had seen some movement in the dark. Usually that was the cue for her to keep walking and stay out of trouble, but Jyn had always had a shitty survival instinct. The young woman took a step closer to the alley and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark. She was sure that she could hear a soft groan and she slowly reached for the blaster that was tucked into her belt on her back, hidden under her jacket. Getting closer she could see the shape of what looked like a humanoid person sitting behind a dumpster. The man had his back against the wall and his hand pressed over his side. Then Jyn noticed the blood on the ground.

As she took another step, the man pulled a blaster and pointed it directly at Jyn. “Go away or I'll shoot you.” his voice muttered, barely more than a whisper. That was her second clue to leave this matter alone and get lost, Jyn thought, but made no move to leave. “You are injured.” she stated the obvious looking at his blaster, trying to figure out if he would deliver on his threat. “I don't have anything valuable on me, so go away.” he said with a bit more bite behind his words. “You want me to leave, so you can bleed out in peace?” Jyn asked him in a sarcastic tone and raised an eyebrow at him. She crossed her arms over her chest, so he could see that she was armed as well. His blaster was starting to shake in his hand with the effort it seemed to take him to keep holding it up. The man made an annoyed sound before he lowered his weapon, apparently giving up on threatening her. “I'm fine.”

“Sure you are. Totally fine bleeding all over the ground.” Jyn thought for a moment what she actually had to offer him. She didn't even know why she was trying to help him. She could just turn around and forget about it. On Nar Shaddaa it was better to keep to yourself and mind your own business, so why couldn't she leave it alone? Maybe because this was the first interesting thing that was happening to her in the whole past month. She really needed to get a new job. “I think I still have a med kit at my place. I could fix you up and send you back on your way.” she offered, silently wondering what the fuck she was doing, inviting a stranger into her hideout.

“I don't know why I have to keep telling you that I'm fine. Can you not take a hint?” he asked through clenched teeth, but Jyn couldn't tell if it was because he was angry or in pain. “Look, you can either come with me or wait for whoever did that to catch up with you.” She was loosing her patience and getting rather annoyed. He was kind of cute, she thought, the same way a petulant child is cute. And annoying. What she said about whoever catching up with him seemed to get his attention though. He grabbed onto the wall behind him and started to pull himself upright. Jyn rolled her eyes at the sight of him standing more or less straight in front of her. How could that guy be so stubborn?

“See?” he breathed, swaying slightly back and forth. “Oh yes, wonderful.” she drawled, shaking her head at him just a moment before she saw how his eyes rolled back and he dropped like a dead weight. “Shit!” she hissed as she sprung forward, catching him before he could hit the ground hard. “Awesome.” she muttered under her breath, putting his arm around her shoulders to make him stand. Jyn was trying to come up with an idea how she would get him to her place, he was quite heavy, when he blinked his eyes open again. “Alright, I'm done arguing over this, we are doing this my way or I'll leave you here.” she argued, starting to pull him along out of the alley and onto the busy streets.

As they made their way through the crowd, they got quite a few stares, but Jyn just laughed it off, saying things like: “He's had too much to drink” or “he just can't hold his liquor” which usually earned her a shrug. People usually didn't care much about anyone else on Nar Shaddaa. Jyn was glad that the guy's jacket was hiding whatever wound he was bleeding from. Although she wasn't sure if people would even care. “I can hold my liquor just fine.” the man mumbled into her hear as she dragged him along. Jyn just rolled her eyes at that. It wasn't far to her apartment which was really just a shitty little hole of one room and something that vaguely resembled a bathroom. Getting the stranger up the stairs was the hardest part since the turbo lift had been broken for as long as Jyn had lived here. Occasionally he made a grunt or groan but didn't say anything until Jyn opened her door and they stumbled inside. “Wow” he murmured totally unimpressed, “that's your place?” Jyn didn't feel insulted at his tone, it was a terrible sight after all.

She lowered him to the ground with his back against the wall and started digging through her things that were scattered all over the floor. “I can't believe you live in this chaos.” came a comment from behind her. “Shut up.” she countered with no real bite in her voice. Under a pile pf her clothes she finally found what she was looking for. Jyn had used the med kit herself a few weeks ago when she had fixed a small wound on her shoulder from a bar fight. It was half empty but it had to suffice. She crawled back over to the guy who had closed his eyes and seemed to be drifting off into sleep. “Hey!” she called to him and slapped his cheek a few times. “Don't fall asleep on me!” The man grumbled unhappily but obeyed and opened his eyes.

He looked right into her eyes and for the first time she felt her heart taking a small jump. He was actually pretty good looking. Without hesitating, Jyn reach forward and started to open his shirt expecting him to protest but he didn't. Maybe he was feeling worse than he was letting on. There was a deep gash on his side that was bleeding quite a bit. Jyn opened the med kit and took out a small bottle with some antiseptic liquid. “Alright, that's gonna burn a lot.” she said, opening the bottle. “I've had worse.” the man scoffed which made it much easier for her to just slosh the antiseptic unceremoniously over his side as if she couldn't care less. Except that he let out a surprised shout at the pain which prompted her to slap her hand across his mouth. “Shh! Do you want all of my neighbors to know that you are here?” she hissed at him when he had managed to get himself under control. “I'm sure they don't care.” he said through his clenched teeth. He was probably right about that, but Jyn didn't admit that out loud.

Instead she busied herself by grabbing some gauze and a bacta patch pressing it over his wound. This time he was ready and suppressed a scream. She could see him clenching his fists though, his face contorted in agony. She hurriedly wrapped a bandage around his middle and tied it off. “Alright, that should do the trick.” she sighed standing up and getting a wet cloth from the bathroom to clean up the mess they had made. The guy was already falling asleep and Jyn wasn't sure if that was a good sign. “Don't die on me after all the effort. I don't want to be stuck with the task of having to get rid of your body.” she muttered although it was getting harder to be annoyed at him. “Just throw me out of the window.” he joked, or maybe he was serious, Jyn couldn't tell. She didn't say anything else and he was already asleep anyway.

So she finished cleaning up and then moved him so he was lying down on a pillow. She threw a blanket over him and then sat on the mattress that was basically her bed. Watching him sleep, she asked herself what the fuck she was doing. She had no idea who that guy was or what problems he could bring to her doorstep. She studied his face closer, suddenly feeling like she recognized his face from somewhere. But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't figure it out. So she decided to catch some sleep, although she felt a little uneasy about having a stranger in her room. She took her blaster with her to bed, keeping it in her hand as she closed her eyes. For a while she was lying wide awake, listening to any movement from the man, but he really seemed to be sleeping. So Jyn started to relax a little and finally dropped off as well.

 

 

 


	2. I've Got My Love All Around Ya

You put your lips very closely to my face  
And then you run away and so begins the chase  
I'll be the hunter, but boy, you better pray  
'Cause when I want ya, I'll get you anyway  
You know what I want to do  
It ain't nothing new  
I'm tired of dropping clues  
So, gonna step to you  
Will you rise to my occasion?  
Or will you make me change your station?

\----------------------------------------------------

 

 

When Jyn woke up, she could tell that she hadn't really slept for longer than a few hours. She sat up and noticed that the man was still asleep, not having moved at all. He looked quite pale and there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead. Quietly, Jyn got up and knelt down next to him. She reached down and felt his skin which was hot to the touch. Perfect. He was probably getting an infection. Jyn worried her lip trying to decide if she should wait to see if he would get better on his own or if she should go and buy some medicine. This was getting out of control if she really thought about spending her hard earned-money for a stranger.

  
Jyn decided against waking him as she stood again and went to the spot where she was hiding her money. Taking out a few credits, she hid the rest again and grabbed her jacket. Hopefully he wouldn't wake up when she was gone. She had no idea what he would be doing if he had a chance to snoop around. Although he wasn't really in a state to do much except for lying down.

  
Jyn left her apartment and went back on the streets. It didn't take long to find some black market merchant who could sell her some pills. She hurried on her way back and almost missed it. Right there was his picture. She froze looking at his face starring back at her. Under his handsome picture it read “Rebel spy and Captain Cassian Andor. Wanted dead or alive by the Empire. Any hints on his whereabouts will be rewarded generously.” Fuck, she had a wanted rebel spy sleeping in her apartment. Jyn hurried back to her place as fast as she could without looking too suspicious.

  
When she opened her door, the man, Cassian, was awake and trying to sit up. “Where did you go?” he asked her immediately and she could recognize the suspicion in his voice and something else. Fear? He thinks I went outside to sell him out, she thought. “I got you some pills against your fever.” she told him as casually as possible, taking out the bottle and throwing it at him. He almost didn't catch it, his reflexes slow and sluggish. Jyn could tell that he didn't really trust her about the pills so she just shrugged at him. “Do whatever you want with it. If you don'ttake them, I can save them up for another time.” She passed him on her way to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Maybe he would take them if she gave him some privacy.

  
Jyn stood in the small room wondering if she could safely take a shower. Better not, she decided to clean herself up without taking off her clothes, all the time thinking about what she should do with the wanted rebel in the next room. She was a wanted criminal herself, but nothing like that. There were probably Stormtroopers on the streets looking for him. Jyn left the bathroom and saw that Cassian hadn't moved at all, still sitting where she left him. “Do you think you can eat something? Or will you throw up on me?” Jyn wasn't sure if he would trust her enough to eat anything she could offer him. “Why are you helping me?” he asked with a suspicious look in his eyes. “Honestly? I have no idea.” She shook her head at him and shrugged. Walking past him she went to grab a bottle of water and passed it to him. When he didn't take it, she rolled her eyes and opened it, taking a gulp herself before she threw it at his feet. “It's not poisoned damnit. Take it or leave it.” Cassian actually did take the bottle and drank from it, but he didn't look very happy about it.

  
Fuck it, she thought, she was going to drop the bomb and then they could talk openly. “So... I saw a wanted poster of you outside.” She watched his reaction closely from across the room. He visibly tensed at her words, giving her a hard stare which was probably supposed to intimidate her. “Relax, I'm not going to sell you out.” she rolled her eyes at him. “Although there is a pretty nice reward on your head.” It was supposed to be a joke but Cassian obviously didn't take it as such. So Jyn felt the need to clarify her feelings about the Empire. “I'm wanted for thievery and some other crimes, so I'm surely not going to walk to the Imperials. They'd probably lock me up in a prison somewhere.” she mused aloud, sensing that her confession seemed to relax him a bit. “My name is Jyn Erso.” she introduced herself, wanting to gain at least some of his trust. “Well, you already know my name I guess.” Why did this guy had to be so difficult about everything? “I'm sure you wanted to say 'thank you' but you have a fever so I'll let it slide.” That actually earned her a laugh. It was the first time she saw him make any other expression than frowning. To her surprise, it actually took her breath away a little bit.

  
“So what are you doing on Nar Shaddaa? Spying around for the rebels?” Jyn didn't really expect him to tell her anything and he didn't disappoint. “I'm sure you know I can't tell you about that.” She gave him a knowing smile. “Top secret mission?” Cassian surprised Jyn when he smiled back at her. “Something like that.”

  
“Well I hope you were able to finish it before this mess. Do you have someone who can come to pick you up?” He shrugged at her, careful not to give too much information away. “Something like that.” Damn secretive rebels. “Alright, then maybe you can make them come to get you, so I don't have to get shot for hosting a wanted traitor.” Cassian smirked at her but started to search into his pockets and pulled out a comlink. “Why didn't you call for help earlier?” she wondered, furrowing her brows. “It wasn't safe.” he simply said, mostly ignoring her as he called for someone. “K2? Can you hear me?” There was some static noise and then a voice that sounded quite artificial, but maybe that was just the device. “Yes, where have you been? I've been waiting for you to contact me for quite a while!” Cassian rolled his eyes and Jyn had to suppress a smile at the sight. “I'll tell you later. Where are you? We need to leave this place.” The guy on the other side, K2, gave Cassian his position. A hangar not too far from their position where he must be waiting with some kind of transport to fly them out.

  
“Do you know how to get there?” Cassian asked her and Jyn nodded, knowing her way around quite well by now. “I'll be there soon K2.” The rebel ended the transmission and tucked the commlink away. “You left my blaster in the alley.” Cassian accused her, frowning up at her from his spot on the floor. “Excuse me?! I had my hands full of... well of you.” Jyn could feel her cheeks heating up at the laugh that fell from his lips. “I know, I should probably thank you for helping me out.” Jyn raised her eyebrow at him. “Probably?” Cassian grinned, shaking is head at her. “Alright, alright. Thanks for helping me. Satisfied?” Jyn frowned at him. “Not really.” Cassian shrugged and then tried to get up to stand. Jyn felt her fingers itch to help him but made no move to do so.

  
“I need to ask you for another favor, Jyn Erso. Can you show me a way to the hangar where my partner is waiting for me?” “You are kidding me right?” Jyn asked him in disbelief. “If they see me with you, they are probably gonna shoot me.” “Shoot us.” Cassian corrected her, but she paid him no attention. “What's in it for me?” The rebel Captain seemed like he had no answer to that. “Sorry, but I have nothing that I could offer you.” Jyn groaned, letting her head fall back against the wall. “I should have just left you in that alley.” she muttered, but they both knew that she didn't mean it. “Are you sure you can make it there? You still look pretty unstable.” Cassian shrugged, pulling himself upright. “I'll manage.” Sure you will, Jyn thought.

  
“If they come for us, I will leave you behind and run.” she informed him, picking up her blaster and tucking it into her belt. She noticed Cassian eyeing her weapon with something like longing. He obviously wished for his own blaster. “Let's go then, so we can get this over with.” Jyn stepped forward, opening her door and watching Cassian step out before her.

 

 

Out on the streets, they were moving pretty slowly through the crowd. Cassian had one hand to his side, but he made no pained noises while they walked. If you didn't look for it, you might not notice that he was injured at all. But Jyn was walking close by his side and she could see his pale face and the sweat on his brows. “I should have brought some painkillers.” She realized and Cassian gave her a surprised look. “Don't worry about it, I've-” “You've had worse, I know, I know.” Jyn rolled her eyes dramatically and heard Cassian chuckle next to her. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

He opened his mouth to reply something but before he could say anything, Jyn saw two Stormtroopers round a corner, looking right at them. She cursed under her breath and felt Cassian tense beside her. He had noticed them too. And apparently so had the troopers as one of them pointed in their direction. “Fuck” Jyn cursed, grabbing Cassian's arm and pulling him away. They started to run and behind them, they could hear the troopers shout at them to stop running. They changed directions several times as Jyn was hoping that they could loose the troopers in the alleys of Nar Shaddaa.

  
They turned down another street and promptly ran into another pair of Stormtroopers. Or maybe they were the same pair as before. Jyn pushed them back into the street they had come from, just as blaster shots started to zip past them. She pressed herself against the wall, pulling out her blaster and sending some shots flying back around the corner. Cassian was next to her without a weapon and breathing heavily. He wouldn't be able to keep up much longer, they needed to get to his partner.

  
Jyn fired a few more shots, then grabbed Cassian's arm again, starting to run down another street. She knew they were close now, but then suddenly Cassian wasn't next to her anymore. Turning around, Jyn saw him on the ground, struggling against a trooper on top of him. Without hesitating, Jyn pulled her blaster and shot the trooper. She hurried back to Cassian and helped him back up. “Come on!” There were some new bruises and blood on his face, probably from where the trooper had hit him. Jyn tugged him along, entering a building, that had several landing fields and hangars for spacecrafts.

  
It took them more time to find the right docking bay where Cassian's contact was waiting since Jyn didn't know her way around inside. They had what looked like a freighter parked on the landing field, the ramp already down. An Imperial droid was standing at the top and Jyn instantly raised her blaster, but Cassian pushed it back down. “No! He's with me.” he gasped, holding his side and looking like his legs were about to give up on him. Jyn took his arm over her shoulders to pull him along for the rest of the way.

  
When they reached the ramp, the droid turned to them. “What took you so long?” Cassian groaned in response. “Not now K2, get the ship ready, we are flying out as fast as possible.” The droid turned to disappear inside the ship, but they could still hear him say “Did you at least get the information we came for?” Cassian didn't answer but instead turned to Jyn. “Jyn Erso, I have to thank you again.” This time he actually sounded sincere. “If you want to... You could come with us?” He was not looking at her but Jyn was sure she saw a glimpse of uncertainty in his eyes.  
His offer surprised her a lot. They didn't know each other and she was a wanted criminal. What use could the rebels possible have for someone like her? And all of her things were still in her apartment. Not that she had any valuable or personal items except for her necklace that she was always wearing.

  
“I... I don't know if that's... I mean why would I...” she stammered and Cassian nodded before she could finish her thoughts. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Maybe that was a stupid question.” He gave her a smile, but it didn't really reach his eyes. “This is goodbye then.” She nodded, wondering when the moment had suddenly become something that she regretted. “Take care, Jyn Erso.” he said, and then he stepped closer and kissed her.

  
Jyn was so shocked by his move that she barely had time to enjoy the kiss. She managed to reciprocate before he already pulled back. This time there was a real smile on his face. “Don't let them catch you.” Cassian stepped back and walked up the ramp, shouting something into the ship. He turned around one more time, looking at her, until the ramp closed and he was out of her sight.

  
Jyn sighed, watching the ship take off and for a moment regretting that she didn't go with them. Shaking her head, she turned around and made her way back to her place. Her shift at the bar was going to start soon and she needed to avoid the Stormtroopers. Maybe she would leave Nar Shaddaa after all and find another place to live for a while. She could still feel her lips tingling from the kiss.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas everyone :)  
> This might be continued if I can find the time to write more.

**Author's Note:**

> Same notes as for my other works, probably a tons of mistakes in this, since I didn't proof-read yet.  
> But the idea has been ghosting around in my head and I wanted to write it down. Might need some changes later.
> 
> Also I'm terrible at coming up with titles, so I'm stealing them from songs.  
> I saw Diego in Havana Nights (God was he young back then), so this is from the song "do you only wanna dance" by Mya.


End file.
